


The Beautiful You

by RinChanSanMatsuoka



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Rated T for Rin's language, Rin loves Sousuke's muscles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 13:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6330217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RinChanSanMatsuoka/pseuds/RinChanSanMatsuoka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke doesn't find himself attractive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beautiful You

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually for a request I got on tumblr. I used this to break through my awful writer's block.
> 
> The prompt was "“what do you mean you’re not attractive whatthefuck”"

A cold wind blew across the ocean, sending a chill down Rin’s spine.  It was still too cold for the beach, but school was almost over and they wouldn’t have that much more time together. While this might not have been his best idea, the cold was a good excuse to stand a bit closer to Sousuke.

How Sousuke could stand to walk around in only his Samezuka polo was beyond Rin, but it gave him a nice view of Sousuke’s muscles.  His large arms threatened to burst out of his sleeves and the shirt hugged his back muscles perfectly, making Rin’s breath hitch every time Sousuke bent over to pick up a shell.

“Do you think Gou will like this one?”

“What?”  Rin stared at Sousuke, confused when he found his friend staring at him.

“The shell, Rin.  This the reason you dragged me out here, right?  You wanted to get shells for her.”  Sousuke looked concerned for a moment before nudging Rin.  “You feeling alright?”

Rin brushed his arm aside before walking ahead of him.  “I’m fine, I’m fine!  I’m going to look for more shells, okay?”  With that, he focused on picking shells that he thought his sister would like.

A few minutes pass in silence, with the two of them carefully placing shells in the small pail that Sousuke was carrying.  The only sound came from the crash of the waves and children laughing further down the beach, until –

“Excuse me, but are you a model?”

Rin stopped walking, turning slightly to see a petite girl looking up at Sousuke, who had the most incredulous look on his face.

“Um, no, sorry?”  Sousuke’s voiced pitched up at the end, as though he were unsure of whether or not he should actually be apologizing.

A snort of laughter escaped Rin’s mouth before he could stop it.  Smothering the sound with his hand, he looked away from Sousuke when his friend turned to frown at him.  Sure, Sousuke might have the looks of a drop dead gorgeous model but he was far too awkward for something like that.

“Oh!  Sorry for bothering you then,” the girl bowed a bit in apology before turning back to her friends.  Before she left, she turned back to Sousuke once more to say, “You should consider it though.  You’re super hot!”

She left, leaving a confused Sousuke and snickering Rin behind.

Once she was out of earshot, Sousuke rounded on Rin, frowning at him.  “Why are you laughing so much?”

“Sousuke, some random girl just came up to you and said you were hot.  It’s funny!”  Grinning, Rin elbowed Sousuke before taking the pail of shells from him.  “I think we have enough for now.  Let’s go get something to eat, okay?”

Sousuke hesitated for a moment before nodding and following Rin off the beach.  He was quiet for a while as they walked down the street before muttering, “She might have been talking to you, y’know?”

Glancing at Sousuke, Rin saw the frown marring his handsome face and he stopped walking to stare at his friend.  “Sousuke, she was looking directly at you.  How they hell could she have meant me?”

“Because you’re the attractive one?”  Sousuke stopped as well, though he didn’t turn to look at Rin.  “You’re the one everyone looks at.”

“What… Sousuke, are you implying you’re not attractive?”

Sousuke shrugged a bit and Rin found himself staring at his broad shoulders as the moved under his shirt.  “I guess not.  I never really gave it much thought.  Swimming was always at the front of my mind, after all.”

“What do you mean you’re not attractive?  What the fuck, Sousuke, have you seen yourself?”  How could Sousuke not see how good he looked?  Especially when it constantly drove Rin crazy.

“Rin, I look at myself in the mirror every morning to shave.  Of course I’ve seen myself,” Sousuke said, finally turning to look at Rin, an amused smile on his face.  “Why are you getting so upset about this?”

“Because… Because it’s stupid that you think that!  You’re wrong, y’know!  You’re super attractive and anyone who thinks otherwise is just blind!”  God, he couldn’t believe he was saying all of this but he had to somehow make Sousuke realize how good he looked.

Sousuke’s amused smile had vanished, replaced by a look of pure confusion.  “Rin, what are you talking about?”

Swallowing his embarrassment, Rin pressed on, stepping closer to Sousuke as he spoke.  “Your face is fucking gorgeous, not to mention your body is practically godlike.  Your muscles are ridiculous, Sou, sometimes I can’t believe they’re real.”  His eyes dropped down to Sousuke’s biceps for a second before he looked back up at Sousuke’s face.  “Your eyes are gorgeous too, just like the sea.  And your smile, when you actually bother to, is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, Sou.  _You’re_ beautiful.”

The words were out of Rin’s mouth before he could stop them and he could feel his face start to burn as Sousuke just stared at him.  _Shit,_ he’d pretty much just confessed to his best friend, who he had been pining over for months, just because he’d gotten upset over Sousuke not finding himself attractive.

When the silence dragged on, Rin forced out an awkward laugh and backed away from Sousuke.  “Sorry… I kinda got carried away there, huh?”

He tensed when Sousuke grabbed his arm and, after a moment of hesitation, he looked up again.

Sousuke was staring at him as though he were searching for something and Rin felt the heat return to his face from the intensity of Sousuke’s gaze.

“Did you mean it?” Sousuke finally asked, breaking the awkward silence between them.

Rin stared at him, wondering why Sousuke sounded more hopeful than angry.  “I… Yeah, I did.  I meant every word.  I really like you, Sousuke and I know that’s probably pretty awkward and all but I do!  And it’s not just because of your muscles, I promise and-“

“Rin, shut up,” Sousuke said softly, a smile finally on his face again.

Closing his mouth tightly, Rin looked away, his face burning with embarrassment.  God, he’d just ruined everything between them, hadn’t he?

“I like you too, Rin.”

Those soft words had Rin’s head whipping around to stare at Sousuke, greeted by that same warm smile he had fallen in love with. 

“You do?”  He cursed himself internally for how scared his voice sounded but he didn’t want to lose Sousuke’s friendship over something like this.

“I do.  I mean it, Rin.  And thank you for saying all that, even if you’re the beautiful one.”  With a laugh, Sousuke let go of Rin’s arm to instead tuck a strand of hair behind Rin’s ear.

Relief flooded through Rin at that and he felt a smile tug at his lips.  “So, now what?  Are we dating now or something?”

“I guess?  That’s how it works in your shoujo manga, right?”  Sousuke teased, a grin on his face despite the sharp kick Rin aimed at his shin.

“I do not read that,” he grumbled.

“Sure, sure.  Now come on, you said we were going to get food.  We can count this as our first official date if you’d like?”  The grin was still on Sousuke’s face as he took Rin’s hand in his own.

The warmth of Sousuke’s hand made Rin’s heart feel like doing backflips.  Curling his fingers around Sousuke’s own, he leaned against him slightly and nodded.  “Yeah, that sounds perfect.”


End file.
